Confederate States (PolCri)
The Confederate States of America (commonly the Confederacy or the Confederate States, abbreviated to CSA) is a country located in the American South region of North America. The CSA consists of ten autonomous states and the Federal District of Richmond, the capital. The Confederacy declared its independence from the then-United States of America on 23 April 2004, three months after the Allied States, one month after Alaska and less than a month after Cascadia. It was the final nation to secede from the United States, excluding Puerto Rico and Hawaii, which were given sovereignty in January 2009 after all the US' Midwestern states became part of the Allied States. The Confederate States is a Protestant Christian nation (which guarantees religious freedom to an extent) and takes the form of a confederate presidential republic, structured a lot like the former slave-era CSA. Slavery and legal racial discrimination are, contrary to fears in 2004, not part of the CSA's constitution and outlawed, however, being a country with extremely conservative values, racism is widespread. African Americans are however found in top-government positions and the Confederate Parliament. Confederate politics is outright dominated by the center- and far-right, with little to no 'liberal' or 'progressive' members of the legislature, executive or judiciary. Liberals are however more widespread in state legislatures, but there also form the minority. The current President of the Confederate States is Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi, and widely considered to be the architect behind the secession of the CSA. The Confederate Parliament is bicameral and made up of the National Assembly, which represents the people, and the Council of States, which represents state legislatures and governments. The Confederate States enjoys good relations with all its neighbors, spare minor condemnation on liberal policies in the United- and Allied States. It is a member of the North American Union, the Economic and Defense Network and has engaged in conflicts in coalition with their American neighbors, most notably the Middle Eastern War of 2012. Politics The Confederate States is one of the world's newest confederations. It takes the form of a constitutional presidential confederation where the President is the head of state and head of government and the Vice President his deputy. The Confederate Parliament consists of a lower house, the National Assembly, and an upper house, the Council of States. The National Assembly consists of Members of Parliament elected in parliamentary districts to represent the people of their district in the federal government. The Council of States consists of Councilors selected by state legislatures to represent the interests of their respective states in the federal government. The judiciary consists of the courts of the Confederacy, of which the Supreme Court is the highest, led by the Chief Justice. Three levels of government exist in the confederal system: *The federal government, or the "national" government, which is mostly responsible for the foreign policy and defense of the Confederacy. Consists of the presidency, the Parliament, and the federal courts. The federal government directly controls the Federal District of Richmond. *The ten state governments which are essentially exclusively responsible for the internal affairs of their states. States have their own constitutions, whose powers are given by the federal constitution. States make their own laws, establish their own political and legal systems, and are generally responsible for their own affairs, including disaster relief. *The local governments, whose power is given to them by state constitutions (or not). Local governments usually consist of cities and counties. The Constitution of the Confederate States almost entirely only consists of a Bill of Rights, which protects minorities and civil rights, as well as a delegate powers to the states. Almost everything is left up to state governments, apart from foreign policy and defense. Political parties The Confederate States is overwhelmingly conservative, in the American sense of the word, thus most of its political parties share ideologies. The Confederate States follows a multi-party system as opposed to a two-party system. The major registered parties are: *Freedom Party (the ruling party) (58% National Assembly, 49% Council of States) *Conservative Party (the opposition) (32% National Assembly, 39% Council of States) *Republican Party (remnants of the former party) (17% National Assembly, 8% Council of States) *Democratic Party (the principle "liberal" or "left-wing" party in the CSA) (9% National Assembly, 2% Council of States) Law The Confederate States completely embraces American conservative laws, as its legislature is overwhelmingly conservative. The law of the CS consists of mainly codified forms of law, of which the most important is the federal Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the CSA. The Constitution sets out the boundaries of federal law and the relationship between states and the central government. Because of the Confederate States' confederational status, most law consists primarily of state law, which can and does vary greatly from one state to the next. Military The Confederate Armed Forces is the collective name of the four different branches of the CS military, namely the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The President is the commander-in-chief of the military and appoints the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary and President then in turn appoint the Chairman of the Armed Forces, a five-star general who leads the military, and his Vice Chairmen, who lead the branches. The ten states have their own militias, known as "State-" or "National Guard" units, and fall under the command of their governors. The Navy acts as the Confederacy's coast guard. Foreign relations The CSA is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as well as the Eden Supreme Council. Almost all countries have embassies in Richmond and consulates scattered around the country. The CS has very good relations with all former American states, the United Kingdom, Israel, Quebec, Japan and South Korea. Because of its very conservative culture, many nations which do not share good relations with the United States or the Allied States, enjoy good relations with the Confederate States, such as Russia and several Middle Eastern nations. Economy The region which the Confederate States occupies saw saw a boom in its service economy, manufacturing base, high technology industries, and the financial sector in the late 20th century. Tourism in Florida and along the Gulf Coast grew steadily throughout the last decades of the 20th century. Numerous new automobile production plants have opened in the region, or are soon to open, such as Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama; the BMW production plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina; Toyota plants in Georgetown, Kentucky and Blue Springs, Mississippi; the GM manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee; the Nissan North American headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee; and the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. The two largest research parks in the region are located in the CSA: Research Triangle Park in North Carolina (the world's largest) and the Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama (the world's fourth largest). Many major banking corporations have headquarters in the region. Bank of America is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wachovia was headquartered there before its purchase by Wells Fargo. Regions Financial Corporation is in Birmingham, as is AmSouth Bancorporation, and BBVA Compass. SunTrust Banks is located in Atlanta as is the Confederate States' federal reserve. BB&T is headquartered in Winston-Salem. Many corporations are headquartered in Atlanta and its surrounding area, such as The Coca-Cola Company and The Home Depot, and also to many cable television networks, such as CNN, TBS, TNT, Turner South, Cartoon Network, and The Weather Channel. The Confederate States has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the region. But among North America's top ten of poorest big cities, the Confederate States is represented in the rankings by two cities: Miami, Florida and Memphis, Tennessee. Culture The predominant culture of the Confederate States has its origins with the settlement of the region by large groups of Northern English, Scots lowlanders and Ulster-Scots (later called the Scotch-Irish) who settled in Appalachia and the Piedmont in the 18th century, and from parts of southern England such as East Anglia, Kent and the West Country in the 17th century, and the many African slaves who were part of the Southern economy. Despite Jim Crow era outflow to the North, the majority of the region's black population remains concentrated in the Confederate States after the Civil War, and has heavily contributed to the cultural blend (Christianity, foods, art, music ) that characterize Confederate culture today. Religion The Confederate States has been seen largely as a stronghold of Protestant Christianity, as its constitution also defines it as a Christian nation. Although the traditional Southerner was Anglican, or more accurately Episcopalian, the predominant denominations in the Confederate States today are Baptists (especially the Southern Baptist Convention), followed by Methodists, with other denominations found throughout the region. Roman Catholics historically were concentrated in Louisiana and Hispanic areas such South Florida and along the Gulf Coast. The great majority of black Southerners are Baptist or Methodist. Statistics show that Confederate States citizens have some of the highest religious attendance figures in the region. The pervasiveness of religion in the region influences the conservative political philosophy common in the CSA. Administrative divisions The Confederate States is divided into ten semi-autonomous states as well as the Federal District of Richmond, which is controlled by the central government: *Louisiana *Mississippi *Alabama *Florida *Georgia *South Carolina *North Carolina *Virginia *Tennessee *Kentucky and the *Federal District of Richmond (Virginia) Major metropolitan areas *Jacksonville - 827,908 *Charlotte - 751,087 *Memphis - 652,050 *Nashville - 609,644 *Louisville - 602,011 *Virginia Beach - 442,707 *Atlanta - 432,427 *Raleigh - 416,468 *Miami - 408,750 *New Orleans - 360,740 *Tampa - 346,037 *Lexington - 301,569 *Greensboro - 273,425 *Saint Petersburg - 244,997 *Orlando - 243,195 *Norfolk - 242,628 *Durham - 233,252 *Winston-Salem - 232,385 *Baton Rouge - 230,139 *Hialeah - 229,969 *Chesapeake - 225,050 *Birmingham - 212,413 *Montgomery - 208,182 *F.D. Richmond - 205,533 *Fayetteville - 203,945 *Shreveport - 200,975 See also *Outline of the Confederate States category:CSA (PolCri)